An old post about Delaware limiting what mothers can buy with child support is back on social media, but it was incorrect then and now.

“New ‘child benefit card’ controls what mothers can and cannot buy with maintenance allowance,” read a screenshot of a headline posted on Facebook in June 2016.

Other screenshots in the post state that “Parents will not be allowed to buy alcohol, cigarettes, or other bills,” and that “if the program is successful in the state of Delaware, the government can apply it nationwide to control its scrutiny.” “. Usage.”

This post has been featured as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat hoaxes and misinformation on its news feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)

A spokesman for the Delaware Department of Health and Welfare, which includes the state’s childcare services division, told PolitiFact that “this claim is invalid”.

Delaware law requires parents to support their children until they are 18 or 19 years old. If one parent does not support their child, the other parent can seek an injunction for payment. Court-ordered payments are made to the child support department, which distributes the money to the child support recipients.

The department transfers child support payments to prepaid debit cards issued by the US bank. It’s called ReliaCard, and neither the state nor the US bank “control, track, or deny purchases,” according to the childcare services division.

Before the state began sending prepaid debit card payments in February 2020, child benefit recipients received payments on what was known as a First State Family Card. It was a prepaid Visa card that was credited whenever a child support was received, and the state did not restrict purchases with this card either.

We rate this post as False.